


Tempo Forpaso

by blua and oro (vehlr)



Series: Blue & Gold XY-XX - Mainverse [6]
Category: Blue Beetle (Comics), Booster Gold (Comics), DCU (Comics)
Genre: F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-08-27
Updated: 2014-08-31
Packaged: 2018-02-15 01:38:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,910
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2210838
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/vehlr/pseuds/blua%20and%20oro
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>(time passing) - Ted and Michelle find their feet and life continues.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. One

They share a takeout on that first night of true reunion, a terrible movie playing as background to their conversations, and he laments the demise of his favourite dish as she steals his fortune cookie – and for the first time in years it feels like the nightmares are finally at bay.

“That's mine!”

“Too slow,” she teases, cracking open the cookie and reading the slip of paper. “You will be an inspiration to others. Hey, that's actually true! Jaime really looks up to you.”

“Tell me about him.” He settles back on the couch, focusing on her. “How old is he?”

“God, he's just a kid,” she laughs. “Just a kid, but... the stuff he's seen? He bears it all on his shoulders, and... I don't know, Ted, he's got it all together in a way I've never seen. Like he has absolute faith that it'll all work out.” She shrugs. “He does things because he knows they're the right thing to do, because he knows they're what _you_ would have done.”

“What I would have done?” He looks surprised.

“W.W.T.K.D. What would Ted Kord do? He's got that on his wall. It's kind of his mantra when things get tough.” He is stunned, and she cannot help but chuckle. “He looks up to you, Ted. You... you died a hero, and you affected a whole new generation.”

“I... but I'm... I'm _alive_ now. He's going to -”

“He's going to freak out, he's going to show you all his cool tricks, and then he's going to ask you if it's okay to continue being the Blue Beetle,” she assures him. “And you better tell him it's okay, because he's good at it. But trust me, he's a fanboy. He'll love it.”

“Are you sure?"

“I promise, Ted.” She shuffles down, resting her head in his lap. “He'll love you. Who wouldn't?”

He rests a light hand on her head for a moment, before reaching for her fortune cookie. “I hope so.” With a soft crack, he announces her own luck. “Seize every second of your life and savor it.”

“I intend to,” she murmurs.

 

***

 

She wakes up on the couch, surrounded by takeout boxes, and for a terrifying moment it all feels like a dream once more. But underneath her head a leg moves, and she resists the urge to press a kiss to the hand on her head.

Unfortunately, duty calls – Rip summons her to the Time Sphere to deal with another assassin looking for Superman's head – and she spends most of the day trying to repair the damage to both the timeline and the sphere. The latter takes considerably longer than usual, much to Rip's disapproval.

“Booster, focus. If those two elements even glance each other -”

“Yeah, yeah, I know, the whole lab goes – whoops!” She drops one but keeps a steady grip on the other.

“Damn it, Booster!”

“They didn't touch!” She stoops to pick up the rogue metal filament, surprised at its durability. “You know, Ted would be a much better lab assistant.”

Rip grunts. “I've invested too much time in you to stop training you. When you can build this from scratch yourself? Then we'll talk.”

She mutters under her breath, realigning the elements. “But I _can_. And he probably can too – better.”

“I don't doubt Ted Kord. I doubt _you_.” She looks up at him, frowning, and he fixes her with a serious stare. “I'm happy for you, really. You deserve to be happy, and I appreciate that, but I want you to understand – this here, everything we do? It's more important than Ted. It's more important than Rani and Michael. Hell, it's more important than _us_. It's absolute, it's forever, and it's not an option.”

She hesitates for a moment, before turning her attention back to the circuits. “I know.”

“ _Do_ you?”

“Yes. I mean, this is it. You, me, the lab... I understand. I _know_ my future is the only one set in stone. I _have_ to become a Time Master, to start the legacy that lasts.” She shrugs. “But that doesn't mean I have to do it all on my own.” Rip watches her for a long moment, before smiling. The expression is rare enough that she stops, staring right back at him. “What?”

“You're outgrowing me. It's good, just... strange to see. One day you won't need me.”

“Rip, I'll always need you -”

“No. You won't.” He chuckles. “And that means I've done my job right.”

They continue to work in silence, and if he seems happier than usual, she says nothing more.

 

***

 

Evening creeps around, and Michelle emerges from the lab to find Rani sitting patiently on the breakfast bar, Ted elbow-deep in pancake mix. They both brighten at her appearance, and she feels warmed by their smiles.

“Mish!”

“Hey, Rani.” She presses a kiss to the girl's forehead. “What are you two up to?”

“Ted said he can cook. I didn't believe him.”

“I think she might have been right to be sceptical,” adds Ted with a grimace. “I followed all the important instructions but this does NOT look edible.”

“Mikey's gonna be maaaad,” warns the little girl, and Michelle laughs, hoisting her up in her arms.

“Never bet against Rani, Ted, she's smarter than anyone I know.”

He lifts his hands out of the mess, shaking his head. “More fool me.”

“I think we can salvage this, though.” She considers the mixture, before turning her head to Rani. “Chocolate?” The girl cheers, and between them the pair manage to find a bag of chocolate pieces to throw in from the cupboards as Ted looks for a pan to cook up their supper.

“Have fun in the time stream?”

She puts Rani back on the counter. “Pretty normal day, all in all. Though... Rip was a bit weird.”

“Rip Hunter, not normal? Say it ain't so!”

“Even for him, it was... strange.”

He shrugs, pouring batter into the pan. “Is it worrying enough to distract you from pancakes?”

She laughs. “Nothing,” she asserts, “is _that_ worrying. Now get cooking, before Rani passes out from hunger!” The girl dramatically flops against Booster's back, to prove her point, and Ted gets the point, flipping the first of his successes.

 

 

Rani falls asleep into her fourth pancake, and Michael is, for once, not mad about the junk food.


	2. Two

Ted spends the next day with old friends.

The Halls have changed, but he still feels the same rush walking into the building. The visitor's pass that hangs around his neck jingles as he walks, and any attempt to surprise people is ruined – though they are all still shocked by his appearance.

“Ted Kord, in the flesh!”

“Oh my goodness, Ted? So the rumours are true!”

“Ted!”

Of course, some are over the moon at his reappearance – he is almost bowled over by the bear-hug that Kara gives him, and Dinah's squeal all but deafens him. But he makes a beeline for the camera room, looking for a certain authority.

“Hey, Bruce?”

The Dark Knight turns, nodding recognition. “Beetle.”

“I, ah... I don't know if I am anymore,” he admits, shrugging lightly. “Old dogs and tricks and all that.”

“Have you met Jaime yet?”

“No, but it's on my to-do list. Right under 'start living'.”

“He does the title proud.” He touches a panel on the console and the door seals shut behind Ted, before lowering his cowl. “It's good to see you, Ted.”

He smiles, reaching out to grasp the man's arm. “Thanks. Must have been pretty quiet without me.”

“You'd be surprised. I trust Booster filled you in?”

“I got the highlights – well, most of them.” He chuckles. “It's been a... difficult transition for her.”

“I can imagine. She took your death hard.”

“Yeah, I'm getting that.” Ted leans against the console. “You know, right? About -”

“Of course.” The brief smile fades for a moment. “The night that Oracle was attacked, I had cameras in place. It was a long time before the Booster Gold I saw in those images matched up to the immature girl obsessed with a quick buck. I looked forward to getting answers.”

“Why did she do it?” The question had been bothering him for a few days, but he had been hesitant to bring up the topic with Michelle.

Bruce returns to the stoic look that he wears like a mask. “From what I understand, Oracle's attack was a fixed point in time, and there was nothing anyone could do to change that. Booster was being shown the futility of trying to prevent the worst from happening. I believe,” he adds, “that Rip Hunter meant to use this to prevent her from trying to change _your_ fate.”

Ted mulls this over. “You know,” he says after contemplation, “Rip Hunter can be a real -”

“You think _that_ stopped her?” interjects Bruce, and the rest of Ted's words die on his tongue. “This _is_ Booster Gold we're talking about, after all...”

 

***  
  


Ted is lost in thought – and soon enough just plain lost – as he makes his way back to the apartment. Luckily for him, Michelle calls.

“Hey, just in time. I'm outside, uh... a really tall building on the corner of -”

“I know,” she says, and he turns to find her grinning as she crosses the road. “You look serious. You alright?”

“Huh? Yeah, just... long day.” He offers his arm and she curtseys before taking it, steering him in the right direction.

“Got you a key, if you want it.” She dangles it in front of him, and he reaches out to take it, finally smiling.

“Thanks. You didn't have to.”

“Well, it's not fair for you to be housebound if I'm busy.” She leans against him. “So what's eating you?”

He hesitates for a moment, before choosing the lesser of his two questions. “I'm just not used to the way people look at me.”

“What do you mean?”

"Everyone keeps looking at me. Listening. It's unnerving." He shrugs. "I was a joke to most of them, a nobody, and now... it's like I matter to them again, except I don't know why because it happened to a different Ted. Even you have a whole story with him, in his last days and beyond, that I can never remember because they weren't my days. Everyone's looking at me to be the Ted Kord who died, but I'm the one who lived."

She reaches to take his hand. "What would you do if Dan Garrett walked in right now?"

"What?"

"If Dan just walked in here like no time had passed, completely fine, what would you say to him?"

"I... I don't know -"

"Yes you do. Come on, _everyone's_ had that mental conversation. All the things you wish you'd said, the emotions that never - whatever, just... You understand what I'm getting at here?"

He sighs, squeezing her fingers. "Yeah."

"It'll never be like it was, but that's not a _bad_ thing. I always said they never appreciated you enough." She pulls a face. "Especially the Birds of Prey. You bent over backwards for them and they never -"

"Hey, that's not fair! They appreciated me!"

"Uh huh, sure." The look on her face betrays her real feelings on that matter. “The point is that people don't realise how good they had it til they don't have it anymore. And now you're back, for good, and people appreciate you the way you should have been from day one.”

He looks somewhat forlorn. “Is it weird that I kind of... don't want them to?”

She cannot help but smile, pulling on his arm. “Yeah. But I guess I get it. For you, it's like waking up one day to find the world's changed its opinion of you for no reason you can see. But trust me, you more than earned it.” Pushing the door to the apartment building open, she pulls him home.


	3. Three

They order pizza, and Michelle tries her best to cheer Ted up. She tells him about Skeets' new obsession with Rip's calculator – which makes little sense, but has Ted snorting into his beer. But it does not take Ted long to bring up his thoughts.

“So I saw Bruce today.”

She smiles, leaning back. “How'd that go?”

“He seems burdened. More than he used to be.”

“Well, he's probably worried that you'd hate him. He feels a little responsible for the events surrounding your death.”

He raises an eyebrow. “Really?” He thinks for a moment. “Should he?”

She shrugs. “The day I pass judgement on Batman is a strange day,” she says simply. “So what happened?”

“We talked about you, actually. Well, more about what you've been doing in the timestream.”

She shifts slightly. “Uh-huh...”

“You know, Babs.”

“Oh. Yeah. That was... hard, for both of them.” She shakes her head. “It kind of scares me that he kept those photos for that long, though.”

Ted shuffles to face her. “It was a lesson from Rip, right? To stop you from trying to change my fate.”

“Yeah. Rip's a tough teacher.”

“Did you... do it? Did you try and change it?”

“Of course I did.” She does not hesitate.

He leans forward, holding her gaze intently. “Tell me.”

“Ted, please, don't ask me that. Never ask me that.”

“I have to understand, 'Chelle. I need to understand everything that brought you to this moment – especially the ones that hurt.” He takes her hand gently, thumb running lightly over her knuckles. “It's a part of you that I can't fix, but that makes it the most important part.”

The silence is consuming, and for a long moment as she stares at him she can almost hear the Black Beetle's voice calling out to her. She stands up, pulling her hand back as she heads over to the refrigerator, grabbing another beer.

“Hell of a nerve, Ted.” Her voice shakes as she cracks the top off. “I mean, I get it. Your death broke me. But I'm not... I'm not _broken_. I'm still here, I'm still – god, I'm still _going_ , right? Never mind that I had to endure you dying _twice_ , never mind that I would have let everyone else die just to – just to have you walk away from that whole mess. Never mind that my own _father_ showed up to stop us, that Max ended up trying to shoot _me_ in the head, that I watched you walk away, ready to die to let time heal itself, to save everyone and... and you told me to _smile_ , Ted!” She manages a smile at that, though it is weak. “You told me to smile whenever I thought of you and I couldn't even do _that_!”

“I told you to smile?” He pulls a face and, though she knows he is forcing it, she is glad of the break in tension. “I'm an _ass_.”

“Yeah. You are.” She sighs, running a hand through her hair before flopping back onto the couch, fingers linking with his. “I jeopardised my own existence and _you_ ended up saving _me_. I tried, Ted. I promise, I really tried. But I failed you.”

He shakes his head. “You lived. That's what I would want.”

“Ass.”

“I'll forgive you if you forgive me.”

“Deal.” She takes a long pull of her drink. “Can we talk about something less depressing now?”

“I don't know,” admits Ted with a dramatic sigh. “I'd suggest TV but it's that British show about the old days.”

She immediately brightens up. “Downton Abbey? Oh, I _love_ that show!”

“Really? _Really?_ ”

“History major, doof, it's like crack to me. Put it on!”

 

***

  
  
“There can be too much truth in every relationship...”

The TV buzzes quietly, and Michelle is sure that Ted is falling asleep. She is also sure that the wonderful dowager on the screen is probably the reason, but she is unbelievably glad that he did not complain anyway.

“Hey, Ted?” He mumbles something, shifting closer against her shoulder, and she smiles. “I got all the Blue Beetles to help me save your life. Even Dan. He was so proud of the man you've become.” Ted says nothing, breathing deep and even. She reaches up to brush his hair from his closed eyes. “You were so strong. When you... when you died, you took on the weight of the world and still managed to stand tall. I loved you for that, but you disappeared before my eyes, and it killed me. Every day since then has been a struggle. I wanted to honour you, I really did. But life without you? It was really hard. I managed to save you once, but... I don't know if I can watch you die again. So don't, okay?”

He presses his face against her neck. “Never again,” he promises, and she shivers at his breath rolling over her skin. Her fingers tighten around his, and he hums against her, her heart pounding in her chest. She feels the urge to tell him more, to admit to the feelings that she had been unable to confess the first time around. But it is late, and to be pushed away by him right now would shatter her new-found contentedness. Instead she moves her head slightly, kissing his forehead softly. He rumbles into her neck, the sound vibrating through her. “ _Never_ again.”

 

***

 

He does not mention it in the morning, and she wonders for a long time if she had dreamed the whole thing.


End file.
